Now C'garh police use sedition against journalist
BY GEETA SESHU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |15/05/2018
Journalist Kamal Shukla waits for a court verdict about the sedition charge against him over posting a cartoon on Facebook
Press Council sends notice on sedition case
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |04/05/2018
The Press Council of India (PCI) has sought a report from the Chhattisgarh government on the filing of a sedition case against Kamal Shukla, the editor of 'Bhumkal Samachar' published from Kanker district. The case was filed against him for sharing on a social media site a cartoon that allegedly carried a..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |14/11/2017
Journalist Vinod Verma's judicial remand has been extended till November 27. The journalist whose arrest in Ghaziabad on Oct 27 created a stir, was subsequently taken to Raipur in connection with a sleaze CD case involving a Chhattisgarh minister. His bail plea has been rejected.
Arrested journalist has Cong affiliation
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |30/10/2017
Perhaps because of the accusations against him of collusion with the Congress in framing a BJP minister with a sex CD, the cries of indignation in Delhi at least over the arrest of a journalist have become rather muted. Vinod Verma who was arrested a couple of days ago in..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |27/10/2017
Journalist Vinod Verma, formerly with the BBC and with Amar Ujala, was picked up from his home in the early hours of 27th October by the Chhattisgarh police (in plain clothes) and UP police and taken to the Indirapuram police station in Ghaziabad. The have seized his laptop on suspicion..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |08/05/2017
Is this incident of a Chhattisgarh jail officer using Facebook for whistleblowing the first of its kind? This Hindu report says that a deputy jailer, posted at the central jail in Chhattisgarh's capital city of Raipur, was suspended on Saturday for a Facebook post alleging torture of young tribal girls while in police custody. She...
There is another side to the Sukma killings
BY JYOTI PUNWANI| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |05/05/2017
Without explaining the context, reports on the killing of CRPF jawans in Bastar make little sense except as easy hate-mongering.
Santosh Yadav: free again, and undeterred
BY GEETA SESHU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |09/03/2017
Released on bail after one and half years in jail, he is full of plans to keep up with his ‘patrakarita’ and ‘samaj seva’ and tell the world about the plight of the adivasis in this strife-torn area
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |27/10/2016
Tausif Ahmed Bhat, the Kashmiri youth in Chhattisgarh who was arrested on charges of sedition for liking a cartoon on Facebook, was finally granted bail by Justice Goutam Bhat of the Chhattisgarh High Court, on his fourth bail plea. The judge said he was not the author of the post..
BY NANDINI SUNDAR| IN BOOKS |15/10/2016
The BJP, the RSS and the security establishment have been equally, if not more, successful in mobilizing both the mainstream as well as social media for counter-insurgency, including to malign anyone critical of the government.
Murder accused dies in custody
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |07/10/2016
Shiv Kumar Vaishnav, formerly a journalist, an accused in the 2011 murder case of Nai Duniya journalist Umesh Rajput, died, allegedly of hanging, while in CBI custody on Oct 4, 2016. Vaishnav and his son, Vikas, had been arrested on September 26, 2016 by the CBI, which is investigating the case..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |05/10/2016
A Kashmiri youth is lodged in a jail in Durg, Chhattisgarh, since August 3, on charges of sedition for allegedly liking a Facebook post that made fun of India. He has been refused bail twice and on Oct 4 when it came up again a judge of the High Court reserved his orders on Tauseef..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |20/09/2016
The five Maoists who were arrested on Sept 19 from Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh have admitted that four of them were involved in the murder of journalist Sai Reddy who was killed with a sharp weapon near a market in December 2013. Reddy is one of 23 journalists killed since 2010..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |10/09/2016
An extraordinary confrontation between the Bastar Range IG Police SRP Kalluri and the Hindu reporter in Chhattisgarh Pavan Dahat is taking place. In response to this Hindu story Kalluri posted a comment on various WhattsAap groups of reporters, police, and politicians in Chhattisgarh, titled "Heartless Reporting and Meaningless Support."
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |21/07/2016
Adivasi journalist Somaru Nag has been acquitted by a trial court in Chhattisgarh. He was arrested on July 16, 2015 on charges of aiding Maoists. Another Bastar journalist, Santosh Yadav, is still in jail. The acquittal is a comment on arbitrariness of his arrest and long incaceration by the Chhattisgarh..
Letting Chhattisgarh journalists work
BY GEETA SESHU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |18/07/2016
In response to the persecution of journalists, a new law has been drafted to protect them against the police and vigilante groups.
Should AIR do propaganda or Jan ki Baat?
BY SHUBHRANSHU CHOUDHARY| IN COMMUNITY MEDIA |18/07/2016
AIR is to increase tribal language broadcasts in districts affected by Left wing extremism. But is this purely to counter Naxalism or to genuinely connect with tribal India,
Bastar journalists and jail, a year on
BY GEETA SESHU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |14/07/2016
Those fighting to free Santosh Yadav and Somaru Nag from jail themselves need defending in a state where the odds are stacked against both.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |21/05/2016
The incident regarding the Bastar collector's charges against JNU professors visiting Chhattisgarh gets more colourful. Today (May 21) Dainik Bhaskar published the audio transcript of an exchange between C'garh journalist Kamal Shukla, who has been fighting for the release of jailed journalists there, and Amit Kataria, the Bastar collector. Shukla refers..
Bail pleas of two journos admitted in C’garh HC
BY GEETA SESHU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |02/05/2016
On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, the prospects for four jailed scribes are mixed in Chhattisgarh.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |02/04/2016
The mainstream media is finally getting around to building some pressure on what is happening to journalists in Bastar. After the Editors Guild's fact finding report made public earlier this week, NDTV aired an edition of Truth Versus Hype on journalists' arrests in Chhattisgarh on Saturday. But the man at..
The Editors Guild gets around to investigating Bastar
BY EDITORS GUILD| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |30/03/2016
‘We could not find a single journalist who could claim with confidence that he/she was working without fear or pressure’
Journalist arrested in Dantewada
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |26/03/2016
Deepak Jaiswal, the Dantewada bureau chief of daily newspaper Dainik Dainandini has been picked up by police, according to Kamal Shukla, convener of the struggle committee for the security of local journalists. With two journalists already in jail and Prabhat Singh, arrested this week on charges of obscenity for a Whatsapp message, Jaiswal..
BY GEETA SESHU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |23/03/2016
A reporter is picked up on an obscenity charge even as two others still languish in jail in Bastar. Conflict zone pits journalists against each other.
Another C'garh scribe picked up
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |22/03/2016
Sources in Chhattisgarh report that Prabhat Singh, a fearless local journalist from Dantewada, was picked up by the police last night. He had reportedly been a strong critic of I G Police S P Kalluri, and had played a key role in highlighting many of the police atrocities in Dantewada district...
BY ARITRA BHATTACHARYA| IN REGIONAL MEDIA |13/02/2016
Rape, beatings and looting in Bastar by the security forces remain hidden because of media indifference.
Here’s why Chhattisgarh police won’t act against attackers
BY DILNAZ BOGA| IN REGIONAL MEDIA |12/02/2016
Local Hindi papers expose links between the Samajik Ekta Manch (which attacked the Scroll contributor’s house) and the police.
BY SHUBHRANSHU CHOUDHARY| IN COMMUNITY MEDIA |15/01/2016
In this Adivasi region, about 80% of the residents not only have Bluetooth technology-enabled phones, but also routinely utilise it to transfer songs and films,
CM Raman Singh promises release of scribes in jail
IN REGIONAL MEDIA |23/12/2015
C-garh journalists organise against police harrassment, govt concedes demands. “We were adamant that the media representatives on the committee should be field reporters, and not owners or editors.”
Appeal to Release Journalists Jailed in Chhattisgarh
IN MEDIA FREEDOM |27/11/2015
Journalists and activists petition ministers for the release of jailed Chhattisgarh journalists.
Prove charges, Bastar scribes tell state govt
BY CHITRANGADA CHOUDHURY| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |12/10/2015
The arrest of two journalists has triggered a movement among Chhattisgarh journalists to demand protection against police and Maoist harassment.
Arrested, tortured, jailed in South Bastar
BY CHITRANGADA CHOUDHURY| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |08/10/2015
Nag was a rare Adivasi journalist in the region. Yadav was a very active reporter, and villagers often approached him for help since he knew Gondi and Hindi.
Truth has two versions in Bastar
BY ARITRA BHATTACHARYA| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |08/10/2015
Did villagers seek police help against Maoists or did they visit the police station to secure the release of villagers wrongly accused by police of being Maoists
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |02/02/2015
The Hindustan Times on Feb. 2 had a long, detailed report on land acquisition in Raigarh, the coal-rich Chhattisgarh district. But while the report explained the strategems that “agents of the region’s mining giant” employ to get land from the tribal population, it didn’t name any of the “private firms”..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |28/01/2014
Against police advice, Chhattisgarh scribes have embarked on a three day ‘Media Swatantrata Padyatra’ to protest the killing of journalist Sai Reddy allegedly by Maoists last December. Police have advised them not to do so as the hilly forest area they will traverse has no administrative presence.
Murder and Maoist rationalisations
BY JAVED IQBAL| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |29/12/2013
One doesn't need to be a state apologist to find something extremely perturbing about just another murder of an unarmed man.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |18/12/2013
A day after The Indian Express reported that Chhattisgarh state unit of the Congress had offered cash to Raipur-based journalists before the recent elections, the party said it had asked its state media cell head Ramesh Warlyani to resign...
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |16/12/2013
The Hindu reports that about 200 journalists, mostly from the seven districts of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, have decided to boycott news related to Maoists. This step comes in response to the December 6 killing of journalist Sai Reddy. They convened a protest meeting on Saturday and unanimously decided to stop publishing and..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |26/11/2013
TOI reports that the Chhattisgarh Election Commission has rejected appeals filed by education minister, Brijmohan Agarwal, and Dhamtari's Congress candidate Gurmukh Singh Hora and upheld the district committee's order of adding Rs 96,350 and Rs 24,000 to their election expenditure on account of paid news. The minister and the Congress..
Media does not hide its colour
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |05/06/2013
If we do accept, as all the papers say, that it is a war between the State and the rebels, ought the media to take sides
IN MEDIA FREEDOM |20/02/2013
A week after the death of Nemichand Jain, the questions pile up casting a shadow over journalism in this conflict zone,
Umesh Rajput: an impunity story
BY Geeta Seshu| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |21/10/2012
More than a year and a half later, why are police investigations still on despite all the damning evidence,
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |06/09/2012
Congress MP Vijay Darda, whose family owns Lokmat, is not the only newspaper owner in the list of those allocated coal blocks. The CAG report also lists for Chhattisgarh the company called DB Power whose owners are also proprietors of Dainik Bhaskar and other publications. Media reporting has centred on the political links..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |23/08/2012
The Indian Express reports that the Raipur administration has slapped notices on major newspapers in Chhattisgarh for violating the deed under which they were given government land at a concession. The Dainik Bhaskar, Navbharat, Samvet Shikhar, Dainik Chhatisgarh, MP Chronicle and Tarun Chhattisgarh are among those named as having made..
Soni's story: propaganda and prejudice
BY ARITRA BHATTACHARYA| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |10/08/2012
The writer has failed to study the factors that are central to understanding how the Maoist conflict affects individuals.
'Prove that you are a journalist'
BY Geeta Seshu| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |03/05/2012
Attacked for exposing tree felling by politicians, asked by the police to prove that he is a journalist, jettisoned by the newspaper he works for, Kamal Shukla typifies the plight of journalists in Chattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh media: sounds of silence
BY Freny Manecksha| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |23/04/2011
"I just want to report honestly on the plight of these very poor people....I have reported on how police detain youths and tonsure them. But I face intimidation with thanedars warning me to suppress the reports."
BY sevanti ninan| IN REGIONAL MEDIA |11/04/2011
Despite a growth in readership, reporting events in Chhattisgarh is almost impossible because journalists are denied access to the interiors. And what is reported is coloured by the interests the media owners have in the state
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |07/04/2011
The Sedition Law directly attacks the freedom of expression, and is therefore impossible to reconcile with conditions necessary for a healthy atmosphere for culture, art and intellectual life
Chhattisgarh: More attacks on media
IN MEDIA FREEDOM |29/03/2011
Journalists continue to be threatened and their movements restricted in this conflict-ridden state
Mothers and daughters give voice to tribals
IN COMMUNITY MEDIA |24/02/2011 ?There are at least 15 tribal women and girls reporting from Bastar and other areas of Chhattisgarh.
Journalists dying in Chhattisgarh
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |25/01/2011
A journalist was shot dead by two masked gunmen in Raipur district, police said on Jan. 24. Umesh Rajput, a reporter with Hindi daily Nai Duniya, was shot on Sunday night by assailants outside his home in Chura village, they said. A note, stating in Hind ‘if you don't stop..
Chhattisgarh: danger zone for scribes
IN MEDIA FREEDOM |06/01/2011
Three journalists are threatened with a dogs death in a pamphlet, the DIG police says they were black sheep. Fear grows as police and vigilante groups increasingly intimidate both mainstream and citizen journalists.
Lop-sided reading of evidence led to Sen’s conviction
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |31/12/2010
In convicting Binayak Sen of sedition, the sessions court has not only chosen to ignore evidence to the contrary but has also extended the interpretation of section 124A illogically.
Vox Populi Chhattisgarh – What an Idea, Sirji!
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |15/05/2010
Men and women from the Gond or Oraon tribes, beyond the pale of any media attention, are now use mobile media to get their stories out to other tribals and to the world at large.
BY Geeta Seshu| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |18/03/2010
"The atmosphere isn’t conducive. There’s no one really to back us. Press owners will not stand by us. There’s always the fear of what will happen to our families."
The ‘facts' HT found in Dantewada
BY Neelesh Misra| IN OPINION |11/12/2009
Did Mr. Menon meet the same man, who you now claim was electrocuted, not burnt in oil? We would like to clarify, and we would have known, had the fact-finding team leader helped us meet the elusive oil-dipped man.
IN OPINION |04/12/2009
Letter to the Hoot: This inability of the newspaper to carry the response from the affected parties is tantamount to suppressing facts which are relevant to the issue raised by Neelesh Misra.
BY Shubrangshu Choudhary| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |16/04/2009
"Journalism here is the art of not writing," he said. "I earn around Rs 5,000 every month by not writing."
Is the State victimizing journalist-activists
BY sevanti ninan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |13/08/2008
For journalists who feel strongly about the issues they report, the line between journalism and activism is sometimes thin.
Television engendered development
BY Swapna Majumdar| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |22/05/2008
In Chhattisgarh villages Kalyani clubs based on a bi-weekly television programme are transforming lives.
DGP dialogues with Naxals, through a newspaper
BY Nitin Mahajan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |02/01/2008
Editor of 'Chhattisgarh' Sunil Kumar, the brain behind the series, said a dialogue between the two sides had to be initiated to end the violence.
On muster rolls in the Hindi heartland
BY Sushmita Malaviya| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |12/07/2004
In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh the concept of women journalists with permanent jobs still does not exist.
BY sevanti ninan| IN REGIONAL MEDIA |24/05/2002
Naxalites in Chattisgarh surface regularly to interact with the press.
